/> Bipasha was at Cannes on Saturday. "But it was like not being there! I wasn't at Cannes film festival for even a full day. This was my first trip to Cannes and I'd have liked to see and experience more. I landed with John in the morning and was out by evening.

All I had time was the press events for our film Goal. That's it. No sightseeing, no shopping. I'm a major shopaholic, though I like to buy stuff for others and not just for myself. And of course I'd have liked to swim and relax."

The actress has just been labeled the hottest bikini babe in Bollywood.

"Have I?" she laughs. "I don't mind being called a bikini babe. I guess I looked right in a bikini in Dhoom 2. I know and so do my fans that I can pull off anything, from a suit-clad Corporate to a bikini in Dhoom 2. Looking hot is a good thing, I guess."

Bipasha is pretty miffed by her 'flying visit' to the French resort.

"The worst blow was I missed meeting Jude Law. John met him at a party hosted by Nike for another football film at the festival. I couldn't attend. Damn!"

Back home she has another Hollywood icon singling her out for praise on Koffee With Karan.

Richard Gere has described her on the talk- show as bright hot and desirable.

Bipasha laughs pleasurably. "I'm not just flattered. I'm flattened! If someone as sinfully goodlooking and amazingly cute as Richard Gere thinks that way about me., I don't mind missing Jude Law. Strangely I haven't met Richard Gere that much.

Though I've made it clear to Parmeshwar Godrej that I'm constantly available for any AIDS-related work on the field, I generally shy away from the charity dinners that Richard generally attends. Such dos are a don't for me. I'm not a social butterfly at all."

But she did resent not getting more time at Cannes. "The ambience is very likeable not just for movie buffs but anyone who wants to shop or simply stroll by the riverside. I got to do none of that.

In fact I was supposed to start shooting for Abbas-Mustan's Race early morning after landing late the previous evening. Fortunately for me they were gracious enough to postpone the morning shift by a few hours.

Thank God for such considerate souls. I don't know what I'd have done otherwise," sighs the busy actress who has had to cancel her holiday to Goa because of her schedules.

"Goa will just have to wait until I've a little breathing space. Right now with so much traveling I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I've another Goal to achieve at the moment," she puns about her next release where she plays a Pakistani medico.

"What preparations did I make to play a Pakistani girl? Nothing! Aren't working -women all over the world the same in dress, attitude and gender relations? I kept my makeup to the minimum, just dabbed some kajal in my eyes and picked up my medi-bag to take care of the injured souls on the field."

If she had one wish right now what would she like? "I wish I was one of the footballers in Goal instead of sitting on the bench. And if you give me one more wish, I wish I had met Jude Law at Cannes."